In a sojo.net article today, Wallis describes a debate he had with Jerry Falwell, where Falwell told Wallis he was “about as evangelical as an oak tree” (whatever that’s supposed to mean). For one, Jerry, you CERTAINLY don’t have a corner on the “evangelical market”; and your smug know-it-all attitude certainly puts YOU in the category of “as evangelical as an oak tree”, and the oak tree might even outrank you, since it is inncocent and majestic, and keeps its mouth shut, since it doesn’t have one. But the kicker here is Falwell’s sense of ownership of evangelical. I’ve always described Falwell’s ilk as fundamentalist, and evangelicals are further along the scale of balance and gospel integrity, and just plain obedience to the messages that ring out dominant in the gospel (such as those things Wallis talks about as morsl issues, in stark contrast to the fundamentalist fixation on sex to the exclusion of nearly all else.

The highlight quote:
I happen to think that both abortion and gay marriage are important issues, but they are not the only issues. Many Christians are getting tired of the tirades of the Jerry Falwells who repeatedly claim that all values issues have to do with sex and that every Christian must vote for their Republican friends. Family values are important to many Christians, but so are social values. And many Christians are pro-family without being anti-gay the way Falwell is. And many of us believe that a deep commitment to the sacredness of human life requires a consistent ethic of life, which also regards the destruction of war, the death penalty, and the scandal of global poverty as deeply moral concerns, not just abortion.